MESOP : PYD (PKK) FORCES AGAIN MASSIVE SUPPORTED BY US AIRSTRIKES / KOBANE TODAY

Islamic State jihadists in fierce new attack on Syria Kurdish town of Kobani: monitor

BEIRUT,— 16 Jan 2015 – The Islamic State group IS jihadi militants on Friday launched a fierce new attack against Kurdish fighters in Kobani in Syrian Kurdistan, four months into a battle for the flashpoint town on Turkey’s border, a monitoring group said.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the jihadists tried to break through the lines of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in four different locations.

“This is the fiercest IS attack in about a month,” said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman. In the fighting that followed, “23 jihadists were killed, as were eight members of the YPG”, he told AFP. He added: “Friday’s attack is an attempt by the IS to stop the YPG from continuing to advance.” Despite the attack, the YPG still controls some 80 percent of Kobani, the Britain-based group said. The YPG (People’s Defense Units) Press Office has said in a written statement that 8 Kurdish YPG/YPJ fighters have lost their lives in clashes, ANF reported.Newaf Khalil, a spokesman for the main Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) shrugged off the latest attack. “Daesh’s attempts are doomed to fail,” Khalil told AFP via the Internet, using an Arabic acronym for IS. “We are continuing to make daily progress as part of a plan named Cleansing Kobane. A special committee has started working to rebuild Kobani,” he said. The IS laid siege to Kobani, forcing most residents to flee to Turkey, on September 16. But the Kurds backed by US-led coalition air strikes have managed to claw back most of the area. In 24 hours since Thursday morning, the coalition carried out six air strikes near Kobani, destroying two IS “staging positions and nine (IS) fighting positions”, according to the US army.